THERE’S leg speed and there's ball speed, and if you give Port Adelaide too much space, their leg speed really does hurt you with the way they move the ball.

I know it sounds silly and it's something that an under-12s coach would say, but if you get in and win the ball first, you get to dictate the terms of how the game is played. That will certainly be a focus for us this week when we meet the Power at the MCG.

Obviously the Burgoyne brothers are a big factor in Port's performances, along with Chad and Kane Cornes. They've got a couple of pairs of brothers that can play the game pretty well, and we'll be focusing on them.

Also, like West Coast with Dean Cox, the guy who usually starts it all -- Brendon Lade -- is very dangerous. He really gets their midfielders and on-ballers into the game, and if we can shut down him and the two sets of brothers, we're in with half a chance.

It will be very important that our ruckmen get front position and get their hands on the ball before Lade, and push it our way as opposed to Port's way. That will be a huge focus for us, around the stoppages, and if our ruckmen can dominate their ruckmen we'll be a chance to win.

Warren Tredrea will jump up if he gets good supply from midfield, although he's not in peak condition. Young Ebert, who has kicked the most goals for them, is in good nick, and Josh Mahoney is a small forward but really plays tall and is a difficult match-up down forward.

Tredrea cannot be underestimated and he'll certainly get one of our best defenders. He's not fully fit so he might not get to 20 contests and win 18, but he'll get to 10 and win nine. Those nine attempts inside-50 normally result in shots on goal, and we just can't afford him to have that many.

In the match against Adelaide last week, the Crows were very good at shutting them down and Port's inaccuracy cost them early. Inaccuracy is something we just can't afford, as it cost them last week -- it’s not too often a Port side starts the game with no goals and six behinds.

Their inaccuracy last week puts a bit of pressure on them. They had their systems right early but they just couldn't find the big sticks. That is just something we cannot afford to do against them, because once they get their tails up they're hard to stop.

There's no more MCG advantage for us than what they have when we go to AAMI Stadium. It gets squared off in the course of the season -- there is a slight advantage for the home side but that will marry up later on.

In these days, with the professionalism of the players, it is just a small advantage. Five or 10 years ago when travel was pretty much new for most clubs there may have been a two or three goal advantage, but that has now been whittled back to maybe just one.

After last week against the Tigers, we identified that we needed to work on consistency and skill level. Our skill level is down, as everyone has been telling us. I mean no disrespect to the guys playing, but players such as Didak, Clement, Buckley and Holland really ramp up our ball efficiency when they're in, because all those boys can use the ball and hit targets.

We've just had to dig a bit deeper into our list, expose a few kids, and some of them have come up well. Like all kids, they're going to miss targets and we'll turn it over, and we'll also lack that perfect skill level we'd have if our better players weren't sitting in the stands.

We're getting attacked for our lack of ball use while they gain experience, but ultimately the experience of those young players in five to10 games’ time will really help us in the long term.

Williamstown got up in the last minute on the weekend, which is good for our fitness. From all reports, it was a bit of a scrappy affair, but certainly Chris Egan is pushing up, Chris Bryan before his report was very good, and there are a few young kids going ell too.

Ben Reid is down there, Nathan Brown missed through injury but he comes back this week, and all the kids are generally bubbling along nicely, so it's just a case of waiting and seeing what happens with the senior squad.

When a bloke gets injured or needs a spell, it's good to know the kids down at Williamstown are pressing up.